Orcutt lawsuit likely to be filed this week

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.

A group of investors in cabins built at Mount Charleston a decade ago expect to file suit against a prominent Las Vegas businesswoman this week.

Between 1994 and 1996, more than 500 investors, many retired and on fixed incomes, collectively bought more than $2 million in shares to build the two dozen mountain cabins.

The investors' group is targeting businesswoman Barbara Orcutt, who managed the company that built and originally rented the cabins. Although the company sold the cabins to individual buyers in 2003 for as much as $500,000 each, the investors never saw any return on their money.

Investor Leanne Njus said Orcutt should be served with the lawsuit this week. Njus said Orcutt recently called her and offered $200,000 to settle the suit, which comes to about $10 a share. The shares originally sold for $1,000 each.

"That's not what shareholders are looking for," Njus said.

Pat Langevin, a retired Las Vegas nurse-anesthetist, invested $1,000 in the project with her late husband, Robert. She contributed $100 to the fund to sue Orcutt.

The issue is not the money lost in the investment, Langevin said.

"We're not hurting," she said. "I just feel sorry for the ones who shouldn't have put in so much."

Orcutt continues to manage the company renting the cabins from the new owners. She also owns and runs the Mt. Charleston Lodge, a popular pub and eatery next to the cabins.

Orcutt said in a 2004 letter and earlier this year to the Sun that she planned to send checks to investors. Those checks have not arrived. She declined to comment Monday.